July 15 Federal Update: Social Current Begins Developing 2025-2027 Federal Public Policy Agenda

Social Current has begun to develop its 2025-2027 Federal Public Policy Agenda, which will address key challenges within the human services sector. We aim to ground the agenda in the wisdom, insight, and expertise of our network and want to hear from you about the challenges your organizations are facing, as well as the changes you hope to see.

Through a series of virtual focus groups, we hope to illuminate the most pressing challenges within your organization and community. These conversations will serve as a stepping stone to collaboratively determine avenues for meaningful, sustainable change. To fully capture our collective vision, this agenda-setting process is intended to be progressive and for each stage to build upon the last.

Virtual focus groups will be held:

• Monday, Aug. 19 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, Aug. 21 from 1-2 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, Aug. 28, from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. ET.

Each session will offer opportunities to share your experiences within the human service sector, challenges your organization and community are facing, and areas you hope to see change.

In jointly leveraging our voices for change, we will be able to amplify the power of the social sector.

Congress Examines the State of Child Care

On July 9, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing titled “Examining the State of Child Care: How Federal Policy Solutions Can Support Families, Close Existing Gaps, and Strengthen Economic Growth.” Senators and expert witnesses stressed the importance of high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care as well as concurrent workforce challenges. The hearing follows the Congressional Budget Office’s 2024-2034 Budget and Economic Outlook release, which considers child care due to its potential to impact labor force participation, household incomes, and overall economic productivity as well as government spending.

Sen. Wyden (D-Ore.) opened the hearing by contrasting the lives of billionaires and the millions of working families for whom child care remains unaffordable. He stressed the need to identify targeted ways to ensure families have access to the resources needed to thrive. Wyden highlighted previous measures, including a permanent, annual increase of $633million to the Child Care Entitlement to States through the American Rescue Plan Act. He also mentioned the Building Child Care for a Better Future Act (S.1842) and the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 as key steps to further support families.

Ranking Member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) echoed the importance of affordable, accessible child care and stressed the importance of evaluating existing programs to understand the most and least effective factors. He highlighted states as uniquely positioned to leverage existing programmatic flexibilities and to design and deliver benefits. However, Crapo spoke against rising costs that would follow federal government mandates on child care provider wages and approved sites of service.

The discussion among key witnesses highlighted critical issues in the child care sector. Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, emphasized the profound disparities stemming from high costs, low wages, and inadequate facilities, stressing that investing in early child care yields substantial long-term benefits. She advocates for federal support through acts like the Child Care Stabilization Act and the Building Child Care for a Better Future Act to establish a robust, inclusive system. Megan Pratt, the assistant professor of practice within Oregon State University’s College of Health, underscored the scarcity and affordability challenges of formal child care, particularly in rural areas, advocating for governmental aid and streamlined processes to improve workforce retention and child development outcomes.

Katharine B. Stevens, founder and president of the Center on Child and Family Policy, focused on the financial strain faced by low-income families and providers, proposing direct subsidies and enhanced parental empowerment to improve access and quality. She suggests integrating federal programs and reducing bureaucratic barriers to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in child care provision. Her federal recommendations extended to leveraging Rural Development Grants and child tax credits, integrating and streamlining federal ECE programs, reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies and silos, and piloting a Federal Performance Partnership.

Ryan Page, the director of child care for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, followed by sharing the extensive steps Iowa has taken to ensure high quality child care is affordable and accessible, prioritizing consumer education and parent choice. One initiative includes a Child Care Assistance Pilot Program, which provides a child care subsidy to those employed in a direct service position within child care, regardless of income. HHS has further worked to grow sustainability through the Shared Services Framework to achieve full enrollment, full fee collection, and revenues that cover per-child cost. Additional efforts include cost sharing agreements between businesses and child care facilities, child care solutions funds to support wage enhancements for child care providers, and a tiered eligibility structure to prevent the loss of care with modest wage gains.

The hearing underscored key challenges families are facing—insufficient choices that often fail to meet their unique needs and exceed their financial means. The data shared by expert witnesses illustrated how investing in the child care workforce benefits the economy and strengthens future generations. They further encouraged a dual lens of considering the needs and perspectives of parents alongside child care providers in ensuring high-quality affordable childcare remains accessible.

Costly Impacts of Inflation to Everyday Americans

On July 9, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing titled “Everyday Expenses and Everyday Americans: How High Costs Impact Children and Families.” Senators and witnesses detailed the daily impact of economic challenges on families and small businesses, as well as avenues to alleviate the pressure inflation often places.

Sen. Casey (D-Pa.) opened the hearing by detailing how corporations have profited from recent economic uncertainty at the expense of consumers, artificially rising prices, and surging costs. He shared details from Greedflation, the special report he authored in November 2023, about how corporations have achieved unprecedented profits at the expense of American families. He introduced the Shrinkflation Prevention Act of 2024 and has encouraged accountability for corporate price gouging.

Ranking Member Sen. Tuberville (R-Ala.) echoed the harm inflation has done nationwide, negatively impacting Americans’ daily lives. He expressed concern for the growing deficit and stressed the need for supply side growth to leverage the free market to improve the economy, citing economic policies and data under the Trump administration to detail its potential.

Dan Lee, owner of Farina Pasta and Noodle in Philadelphia, highlighted the persistent challenges his small restaurant faces, including sustained, high pre-pandemic food prices; labor costs; and steep delivery service fees, which erode profitability. He emphasized the precarious struggle of needing to cover costs and maintain a margin without alienating an already shrinking customer base. Erin Wiggle, a Pennsylvania resident and retired Army veteran, discussed how rising costs have strained her family’s budget, including expenses for her nonprofit animal rescue. She echoed concerns about inflationary pressures and supported efforts against “greedflation” and “shrinkflation,” advocating for fairness in corporate practices.

Emily Gee from the Center for American Progress criticized decades of lenient antitrust policies and anti-union labor laws, blaming them for consolidating corporate power and limiting economic choices for consumers and small businesses. She proposed reforms to restore economic balance through enhanced worker protections and corporate transparency. David Malpass, an economic analyst, underscored the impact of regulatory hurdles on economic growth and recommended a supply-side strategy emphasizing increased production and a more focused Federal Reserve approach to stabilize prices and interest rates swiftly.

Hearing participants shared the far-reaching impact of elevated prices, from health care to child care and similar expenses of daily living. They further stressed the disparities rural communities face and disproportionate impact on lower-income households. Witnesses and senators shared the necessity of a fair economy where companies do not exploit inflation for profit.

Subscribe to the Policy and Advocacy Radar to receive our biweekly policy roundup, which includes commentary on issues in Social Current’s federal policy agenda, opportunities to take action, and curated news and opportunities.